• endeavor •

Notes: Today's Good Word is spelt endeavour in Jolly Old, like labour and colour. This word was immortalized on the ship that carried Captain James Cook on his "voyage of discovery" around the globe in the late 1660s. This trip made such an impression on history that we placed her name on the fifth and final NASA space shuttle to be built. The verb may be used as a noun, as in, "His work was a monumental endeavor." An endeavor is an extraordinary attempt; any lesser attempt is just a try.

In Play: As viewers of the British mystery series Inspector Morse will know, the good inspector preferred to be called just "Morse", without revealing his Christian name. Toward the end of the series we learned why: his father was an admirer of Captain Cook and in his fervor had named his son, Endeavour. Remember that endeavor means "to try hard": "Susan Liddy-Gates endeavored to retrieve the money Hans Opp had taken from his clients in a Ponzi scheme, but failed to do so."

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from the French phrase se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose "to make it one's duty to do something". Devoir came from Old French dever "duty, obligation", in turn from Latin debere "to owe". The neuter past participle of debere is debitum, which also served as a noun meaning "thing owed". English borrowed its terms debit and debt from this word, even while it was borrowing its French grandchildren. Debere originally meant "to deprive someone of something", because it came from Latin de- "away, un-" + habere "to have". (We shall endeavor now to offer Chris Berry the show of gratitude he so deserves for submitting today's extraordinarily Good Word through the Alpha Agora.)

As for naming the space shuttle "Endeavor," it is a space ship, isn't it?

What's this, Captain Cook's ship the Endeavor? I don't remember any such vehicle pertaining to Captain Cook. Ahhhh, you mean the Endeavour, of course! I'd point out the shuttle is also endowed with the correct allocation of 'u's as per Captain Cook's vessel.

Could this be a case whether one is considering a team as a whole or as individuals? Thus Spain is a team, but the Stanford Cardinal are spreading out for the kickoff. Doesn't feel right, but somehow I remember learning collective nouns may at times take a plural verb.

Ian: You have buffaloed me when you write, "England expects every man to use synecdoche without due consideration in all matters sporting." If it is a woman's basketball team are they still called men in England?

In America we have the silly practice of putting "Lady" in front of a team name or ending the name with "ettes" for women's school organizations. If the school mascot is the bison, the girl's teams, choirs etc. are called Bisonettes. My lovely daughter was once a Bisonette and we hosted four Bisonettes in our home recently. The Bisonettes is (not are in America) a university woman's choir. But what can one expect from a university in Oklahoma?

Since synecdoche covers a multitude of sins, an example is needed. I assume your statement to be an example and a statement about the example. Am I right or am I too dense to get it?

Ah, I can see what has happened now that the smoke and surprise have partially cleared--another skirmish in the ongoing Spelling War between the forces of British and American English, this time along the "our"/"or" line.

Who will prevail? The British, impeded with the unnecessary baggage of an extra, unsounded "u," dragging the weight of tradition as it were, or the lighter, more mobile Americans?(Do you detect an historical analog or analogue?)This is a matter of the utmost moment, men. (And women to be p.c.) Yes, some question whether the epic struggle over a simple vowel movement is worth it. But blood has been spilled on the battlefield. Endeavour or endeavor to do your best, men! (er, soldiers) Advance! Take no prisoners!

Suffice to say that political correctness would not have entered the fray in those times. I borrowed the phrase simply to tie in with previous nautical associations (HMS Endeavour) as well as the synecdoche from Gail's 'Spain are the big favourites...' (using the country to refer to the football team). So yes, roughly, an example ('England expects...' referring to citizenry - arguably personification) and statement about the example.

Interestingly the '-ettes' suffix and similar would be frowned on by anyone bothered about such things in this locale, due to the diminutive association.